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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "joy" <joywilliams@cantv.net>
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2010 04:31:11 -0430
Subject: Please handle this donation for charity purpose

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.I'm Sister Joy Williams an ageing widow suffering from long time illness/cancer.I am currently admitted in a private hospital here in Abidjan the capital city of Cote D'Ivoire.I have some funds which i inherited from my late loving husband Mr Emmanuel Williams, the sum of $2.5 ( Two Million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars) which he deposited in a Bank here and I need a very honest and God fearing person that can use this funds for God's work.

I have decided that 20% out of the total funds will be for your compensation and renumeration for handling this donation for charity purpose.Please if you would be able to use these funds for the Lord's work. kindly reply immediately so that i will give you more details.
 
Yours Sister in the Lord,

Sister Joy Williams

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